October 9, 2015 Lunch – Polish Dog Deluxe, Dinner – Three Course Dinner at Greenhouse Bistro, Cesar Salad, Lasagna Alfredo with Penne Pasta and fresh Turnip Greens, and fresh Apple Pie with Whipped Cream

October 9, 2015 Lunch – Polish Dog Deluxe, Dinner – Three Course Dinner at Greenhouse Bistro,  Cesar Salad, Lasagna Alfredo with Penne Pasta and fresh Turnip Greens, and fresh Apple Pie with Whipped Cream

Today I went to Costco for lunch.  My favorite fast, inexpensive lunch is a Polish Dog with Lemonade for $1.50 at Costco.  I load it up with chopped onions, relish, catsup, and deli mustard.  Here is a picture.  

     I use a knife and fork for this 

As I was cranking onions out of the onion dispenser a  gentleman waiting for me to finish stated, “I see you are having an onion dog.”  He was partly correct. 

After lunch I bought a quart of heavy cream ($5.79), a Dungeness crab ($7.99/lb., and Kirtland Greek yogurt, which as close to labini as anything other than the real thing at a Middle Eastern market, I have found in Albuquerque.

I then went home and filed two motions in the Lower Rio Grande Adjudication.

At 3:00 I rode to Rio Bravo and back.  It was one of those cloudy/sunny days and the sun light breaking through the cloud cover illuminated the Sandias beautifully.

At 4:00 I drove to The Center for Ageless Living for a dose of agelessness; a facial by Rosemary and the weekly Three Course Dinner at the Greenhouse Bistro.  The dinner this week included, a Cesar Salad, aLasagna Alfredo, and fresh Apple Pie with a pile of fresh Whipped cream.

The Cesar Salad was very interesting because the chef had blended the Parmesan cheese into the dressing and tossed the salad to coat the lettuce and freshly made croutons with the dressing, which gave the lettuce an attractive pebbly cheesy coating.

The lasagna was even more interesting.  It was filled with layers of fresh mustard greens from the Center’s own garden.  Here is a picture of the mustard greens.  When Chef Alex served the lasagna he said, “I read that there is lots of beneficial nutrients in the stems, so I left them in the dish.”  

    Chef Alex 

As soon as I got used to cutting the long stringy stems, I really liked the dish.  It made me think of what one might be served in an Italian farmhouse where the motto was “Waste not, want not” culinarily speaking.

Suzette said, "Do you want to go see the mustard greens? 

I replied, "Yes." 

So went out to the gardens next to the restaurant.  Here pictures of the bed of mustard greens and some red chard growing in the walkways.

   The mustard greens

      The red chard 

The apple pie was made with the free Pink Lady apples Suzette had bought at the Farmer’s Market last Saturday.  It had a lovely pastry crust and was topped with a large dollop of fresh whipped cream.  It seems that all the three chefs at the Bistro are superb bakers.  We had pieces of fresh focaccia baked by Chef Alex that were wonderfully delicious with a hint of thyme and olive oil and the apple pie crust baked by Chef Darran was a pastry confection in itself, simply augmented by slices of fresh baked apple and vanilla flavored fresh whipped cream. 

The lasagna,  served on a bed of penne and peas and drizzled with a heavenly creamy Alfredo sauce, was more than we could eat, so we took home a quantity sufficient for another meal.  

We both drank glasses of a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc that was almost too fruity, so I added a bit of an Italian chiaretto rose.  For more information about chiaretto I suggest you read http://thewinesleuth.co.uk/2011/03/23/chiaretto-italian-rose/  

There were only three other customers while we were at the restaurant and I was torn between feelings of envy that we were the focus of the staff’s entire attention and creativity and the ting of pain that there were so many people who would love this exceptionally good food who were not at the Bistro to enjoy the food with us.

Bon Appetit